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Spaceman-turned-senator John Glenn — the first American to orbit the...

But what a ride: a Marine fighter pilot who flew 149 combat missions in World War II and the Korean War; the first to pilot a supersonic transcontinental flight as part of NASA’s Mercury Seven crew — and the first American to orbit the Earth, sending a message to the rest of the world that the United States was a player in the space exploration game.

Plus 24 years in the United States Senate.

And a marriage that lasted 73 years.

Glenn made history again in 1998, riding on the shuttle Discovery to set the record for the oldest space traveler at age 77.

He was the kind of man who mastered all he set his sights on — and gave real meaning to what it means to be a public servant.

“I guess I’ve looked at my whole life as being a service to my country,” he said in 1976.

“John Glenn is, and always will be, Ohio’s ultimate hometown hero,” said Gov. John Kasich. “As we bow our heads and share our grief with his beloved wife, Annie, we must also turn to the skies, to salute his remarkable journeys and his long years of service to our state and nation.”

His mortal remains will rest at Arlington National Cemetery after lying in state at the Ohio Statehouse for a day.